Despite ongoing trade disputes between the Trump administration and other countries that have rattled markets, the Port of Oakland reported Friday it remains on pace for a record year with its busiest November ever that shattered an 11-year-old record.

Total volume — imports, exports and empty containers — was up 5 percent in the first 11 months of 2018, port officials said. If that trend holds, Oakland would set a new cargo volume record for the third straight year.

“We’re encouraged by our latest cargo statistics,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “At the same time, we remain cautious as we approach the new year with uncertainty.”

November imports were up 15 percent over the same period in 2017, with the equivalent of 83,364 loaded 20-foot import containers last month, beating an 11-year-old November record of 76,902 containers in 2007.

That followed the Oakland port’s busiest peak shipping season ever for imports from August through October. The port said it handled the equivalent of 250,686 20-foot import containers during those months, the traditional high-water mark for container shipping, which broke the previous peak season import record in 2017 of 233,825 containers.

The Port attributed the increased cargo volume to strong U.S. consumer spending and added that importers are rushing cargo into the U.S. in case new tariffs are imposed next year in the ongoing trade war with China. The twin influences supercharged the peak season, the port said, which is the time of year when U.S. retailers build inventories for holiday merchandising.

The Port of Oakland oversees the Oakland Seaport, Oakland International Airport, and nearly 20 miles of waterfront, including Jack London Square, and supports more than 73,000 jobs in the region and nearly 827,000 jobs across the United States. It was ranked the eighth-busiest U.S. port in 2017 and third-busiest in California.

The Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest, reported Thursday that it had logged its sixth busiest November ever. The port set an all-time annual cargo volume record in 2017, and said it is on pace to match that this year with volume again exceeding the equivalent of more than 9 million 20-foot import containers.

China is the top U.S. trading partner, with a total of $549.5 billion in trade. So far this year, the U.S. has imported $447 billion in goods from China, and exported $102.5 billion.

The Trump administration has been seeking a better trade deal with China that addresses longstanding U.S. concerns about alleged Chinese theft of U.S. companies’ intellectual property and other practices the U.S. considers unfair. The two countries have imposed tariffs on each others’ imports.

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Earlier this month, the two countries’ leaders announced a halt in the escalation of tariffs that had been expected in January while the two countries try to work out a deal.

Trump also threatened to tear up the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, the second and third largest U.S. trading partners. The three countries in October announced a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace it, aimed at widening U.S. access to the Canadian dairy market, increasing environmental and labor regulations and addressing intellectual property concerns.

John Woolfolk is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group, based at The Mercury News. A native of New Orleans, he grew up near San Jose. He is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism and has been a journalist since 1990, covering cities, counties, law enforcement, courts and other general news. He also has worked as an editor since 2013.

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